Lakers' record is bad, and schedule is about to get worse

After forward Wesley Johnson and the Lakers battled Jason Thompson and the Kings to a 126-122 victory on Friday, the schedule and opponents only get tougher to finish the season.

After forward Wesley Johnson and the Lakers battled Jason Thompson and the Kings to a 126-122 victory on Friday, the schedule and opponents only get tougher to finish the season. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Rambis: "I'm telling you anyway. We have one of the hardest remaining schedules in the NBA."

D'Antoni: Pause. (Unintelligible.)

As if the Lakers needed more bad news, it's coming fast and furious.

Their game Friday against Sacramento was one of their last "easy" ones, or at least matchups that look favorable on paper. Nineteen of their final 23 will be against the clearly superior Western Conference and there will be six back-to-back situations, one of many bleak areas for the Lakers (5-8 in the first night, 4-9 in the second night).

They still have three games against San Antonio, two against Oklahoma City, two against the Clippers and two against Portland. The combined record of those teams before Saturday was 166-69. The Lakers are 20-39.

Fans who want the Lakers to keep losing don't have to worry. Their draft position will be just fine.

Their worst week has yet to come in one of the most dreadful seasons in Lakers history.

The Lakers play Oklahoma City two times in a row and then San Antonio twice in a row in an 11-day stretch beginning March 9, though there are a few days of rest between the games against the Thunder and those against the Spurs. So there's that.

The Lakers won an entertaining one Friday against Sacramento, 126-122, though the Kings were without their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, who was suspended because he'd punched an opponent.

And their season-long weakness was still there.

"We're not very good defensively," D'Antoni said. "We have a hard time guarding the rim, we have a hard time being tough sometimes. We're missing a little bit of that."